November 16, 2005

Global Health Sciences Seminar and Lecture Series
Developing Drugs for Diseases of Poverty: Emerging Solutions
Helene Levens Lipton, Ph.D.

By Lutz Wong, Global Health Sciences

Dr. Helene Levens Lipton presented a seminar on the lack of research in developing drugs for poverty-related neglected diseases, including Tuberculosis, Malaria and Diarrheal diseases. These health discrepancies have become "a fundamental feature of today's global health landscape", creating economic burdens on developing countries.

Today, millions of people in developing countries lack access to needed drugs and medications to treat these neglected diseases as well as vaccines for preventable diseases. While preventable diseases such as Measles, Tetanus, Hepatitis B, etc. are prevented in developed countries like the United States, they cause hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide.

One-third of the world's population currently lacks access to essential drugs, with one-half in poorer regions of Africa and Asia. Additionally, the cost of drugs dramatically increases in developing countries, with 50-90% paid out-of-pocket and 10% in higher-income countries.

As much as developing countries desperately need access to life-saving medications and vaccines, research & development (R&D) and distribution challenges prevent these countries from obtaining them. Not only are the costs of R&D high, but there's also a low anticipated rate of return on investment. With intellectual property patents, developing countries can't produce their own needed drugs without paying costly royalties to the patent holders; thus, imposing a larger economic burden on poorer countries. Because of these restrictions, distribution becomes costly and quantities are limited. Finally distribution rules, approval by health authorities and safe storage/transport slow the distribution process considerably to costing more lives in between deliveries.

To help developing nations with their drug crisis, non-profit companies and donation programs have been developed to provide medicines at no or low cost. Global health organizations, drug companies, biotech firms, academe and governments have united to develop drugs specifically for neglected diseases.

Non-profit pharmaceutical companies can develop neglected disease medication, using donated compounds from drug industries and academe, without worrying about ROIs or marketing/advertising costs while making use of limited funds to successfully deliver drugs to target populations. These non-profit companies can also leverage investments already made by drug companies and academe as well as negotiate no-or low-cost royalty contracts to develop these drugs. For non-profit companies to ensure sustainability, developed products are distributed, with an ROI, to wealthier developing countries; they also receive grants from philanthropists.

Global health disparities accumulate because of drug access discrepancies including R&D challenges, distribution challenges and intellectual property patents. However, because of non-profit pharmaceutical companies, partnerships and philanthropists, innovative initiatives continue to find affordable ways of delivering needed drugs to developing countries.

About Helene Levens Lipton, Ph.D.:
Helene Levens Lipton, Ph.D. has more than 30 years of experience conducting health services research, carrying out policy assessments and providing technical assistance to health professionals and policymakers. A Professor in UCSF's Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Dr. Lipton is also a Fellow of the Association for Health Services Research. She examines Medicare and its projected drug benefit program in her book, Drugs and the Elderly: Clinical, Social and Policy Perspectives. Dr. Lipton received a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin.

About Global Health Sciences:
UCSF Global Health Sciences was established in 2003 to create a vision and provide institutional leadership for global health at UCSF. Under the direction of Haile T. Debas, MD, and reporting directly to Chancellor J. Michael Bishop, its creation underscores UCSF’s commitment to global health and to the care of vulnerable populations at home and throughout the world.